Photocatalytic Abatement of Volatile Organic Compounds by TiO2 Nanoparticles Doped with Either Phosphorous or Zirconium.

Melodj Dosa,Camilla Galletti,Nunzio Russo,Samir Bensaid,Marco Piumetti,Debora Fino,Tahrizi Andana

doi:10.3390/ma12132121

Melodj Dosa, Camilla Galletti + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12132121

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Journal: Materials	Publication Date: Jul 1, 2019
Citations: 14	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Polytechnic University of Turin

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the activity of novel TiO2-based photocatalysts doped with either phosphorus or zirconium under a UV-Vis source. A set of mesoporous catalysts was prepared by the direct synthesis: TiO2_A and TiO2_B (titanium oxide synthesized by two different procedures), P-TiO2 and Zr-TiO2 (binary oxides with either nonmetal or metal into the TiO2 framework). Complementary characterizations (N2 physisorption at 77 K, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and (DR)UV-Vis spectroscopy) were used to investigate the physicochemical properties of the prepared catalysts. Then, the photocatalysts were tested for the oxidation of propylene and ethylene under UV-Vis light. As a result, the most promising catalyst for both the propylene and ethylene oxidation reactions was the P-TiO2 (propylene conversion = 27.8% and ethylene conversion = 13%, TOS = 3 h), thus confirming the beneficial effect of P-doping into the TiO2 framework on the photocatalytic activity.

Highlights

Over the last few decades, the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has received much interest [1,2,3]
Several abatement techniques have been studied during the last years [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20] and, among them, the heterogeneous photocatalysis is effective for the degradation of VOCs
The great interest in titania-based systems is due to the fact that TiO2 is a photoactive material at room temperature, has low toxicity, and exhibits various morphologies depending on the synthesis conditions [27,28]

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has received much interest [1,2,3]. Some VOCs are mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic for humans [8,9,10]. For this reason, several abatement techniques have been studied during the last years [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20] and, among them, the heterogeneous photocatalysis is effective for the degradation of VOCs. many photocatalysts (mainly, TiO2 -based materials) have been proposed for the VOC decomposition [21,22,23,24,25,26]. The great interest in titania-based systems is due to the fact that TiO2 is a photoactive material at room temperature, has low toxicity, and exhibits various morphologies depending on the synthesis conditions [27,28]

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